


Tales of the Curse-Breaker

by TheCaillic



Series: S.P.H.I.N.X [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Video Game)
Genre: Acromantulas, Care of Magical Creatures, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Multi, Other, Spiders, Treasure Hunting, oneshots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:35:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26191291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCaillic/pseuds/TheCaillic
Summary: Everyday glances into the life of Piper Wilder. From developing romantic feelings for her friends to befriending fearsome creatures.
Relationships: Charlie Weasley/Original Female Character(s), Original Female Character(s)/Charlie Weasley/Penny Haywood, Penny Haywood/Original Female Character(s)
Series: S.P.H.I.N.X [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1646536





	1. The Start of Something?

“I wanna go home!”

“Calm down, Ben. There's nothing to freak out about… yet.”

“That’s not helpful!”

Three out of the four teenagers laughed. They continued down the dark creaking halls of the Shrieking Shack.

Piper honestly didn’t know how she convinced Ben to join in on her secret tour of the ‘haunted house’. But he did so now he has to lie in the bed he made, as it were.

“I honestly don’t see what the big deal is?” Charlie said, while looking around the place.

“Clean up the dust, some new furniture and some new wallpaper, and I’d say it would be quite nice.” Penny joked.

“You could say that about any place though,” Piper said.

Piper knew that Charlie and Penny were both extreme optimisms from the moment she met each of them. It was one of the many reasons she liked the two of them so much.

“You’re all crazy,” Ben whispered while clinging to Piper’s arm.

“You’re cutting off the circulation there buddy,” Piper said, trying to get Ben to loosen his grip a little.

“How are the three of you so calm!?” Ben squeaked.

This caused Piper and Charlie to give each a look. The two of them were well known to be danger seekers among their friends. Charlie’s love of dragons and Piper’s love of magical creatures, in general, was enough to prove that.

“I dunno. I guess after becoming friends with a big spider, something like an empty house doesn’t seem very threatening.”

Charlie nodded his head in agreement. Piper then turned to Penny.

“What about you, Pen? How do you stay so calm?”

“I’m not really scared of ghosts, to be honest. That and when you hang around Piper Wilder for three years, and you'll start to feel prepared for anything.” Penny answered with her usual confident smile.

“You guys know I didn't actually want an answer,” Ben said.

“Do you really want to leave Ben?” Piper asked. Suddenly there was a loud bang.

“Yes!” Ben yelled, running back to the front door without giving Piper the chance to respond.

Piper turned around to see Charlie cringing at an old piece of wood he must have accidentally knocked over.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

The three of them continued on until they found what must have been a living room at some point.

“Hey, ghouls! The boy and gals are here!” Piper shouted. This caused Charlie to burst out laughing, while 

Penny was trying to hold in a snicker.

“You’re crazy, you know that, right?”

“I’m well aware, but at less, I know you two are just as crazy for following me in here.”

“How could I resist following a beautiful face like yours Pipe?” Penny said. She wrapped her arm around Piper’s. This caused the latter's cheeks to go warm.

Piper cleared her throat and made her way over to the centre of the room. Where she jumped up onto an old leg rest.

“Anyway, there was an actual reason I wanted to come here today,” Piper said confidently.

“Are we allowed to know about it?” Charlie asked.

“Not if you keep sassing me, Weasley.”

Charlie let out a huff of laughter and put his hands up in surrender.

“As I was saying, I have come here today because of rumours of a rare item.”

Penny and Charlie continued to let Piper be overdramatic. It took all of their strength not to start giggling, but as Penny stated before they had known Piper for three years now and more than used to her over the top flare.

“The item is said to grant eternal happiness to whoever writes their name on it.”

“Pretty sure you made that up,” Charlie said.

“Only one way to find out.”

Piper gave her two friends a brief description of what they were looking for, and the three started searching.

After around five minutes of searching, Piper stopped for a second to check on Charlie and Penny. They were standing on the other side of the room joking about one of the old paintings on the wall.

Piper felt her heart swell.

_ Merlin, I love them so much. I hope every day can feel like this. _

Woah, wait a second. Did she really just think that?

Piper got to her feet and aimlessly walked around the room.

Piper felt her heart pound as she tried to process the thought she just had. Did she like Penny and Charlie like that?

She remembered back to when she was a little kid, and her Grandma used to tell her stories about what it was like when she was young. The one that always stuck out to Piper was the one about how her 

Grandma realised she had feelings for grandpa.

Grandma and Grandpa had been friends for about five years. She had been explaining how enrollment at 

Hogwarts and poor old Tom kept trying to wrap his head around the specificities of it. He eventually started off a rant about it that didn't make much sense, and Grandma had to agree that if she didn’t grow up learning all about magic, she would most likely react the same way.

After awhile, the conversation shifted, and the two of them started uncontrollable laughing at the silliness of their talk. Grandma had looked how, at some point and suddenly felt so warm and content. When she saw Grandpa smiling, she thought to herself that she wanted to be able to make him smile like that every day.

The way her Grandma described it…. It was so out of nowhere. As a kid, Piper didn’t really understand, but now that she was here with Charlie and Penny. Feeling similar things. She was starting to understand a bit better.

Piper was pulling out of thoughts when she felt her foot bump into something. She looked down to see an old green vase with Lily Pad patterns all over it. She picked it up to take a closer look. It was in pretty good condition. The only significant damage it had was a broken clip near the top.

Piper smiled and made her way back over to Charlie and Penny. 

“Hey, I found it.”

“Wait really?” Charlie exclaimed.

“Let me see,” Penny said, and Piper happily handed it over.

“Doesn’t look all that powerful,” Charlie said. “Although it's usually the thing you least expect, isn't it?”

“Are you saying you doubt my expertise, Charlie?” Piper said after letting out a fake gasp.

“Not at all, All knowledgeable Curse-Breaker.” Charlie joked and took a silly bow.

“I reckon there’s only one way to find out if Piper’s tale is true,” Penny said while pulling out one of the ballpoint pens Piper had given her a joke gift on Valentines. She processed to scribble the initials; PW, CW, PW on the bottom of the vase. The blonde passed the vase back to Piper.

“And now we wait.” Penny smiled.

After this, the three of them wandered back to Hogsmeade, smiling and laughing like a lot of idiots the whole way.

They would never find out if the vase did really give them ‘eternal happiness’, but that didn’t stop it from becoming one of Piper’s most prized possessions. It reminded her of when she found the people she truly loved. 

To this day it sits on a shelf in the Wilder household. Holding beautiful flowers and powerful memories.


	2. Spider Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning for people afraid of spiders in this chapter.

For as long as she could remember Piper had been the adventurous type. When she was a kid, you could always find her climbing trees or looking under the bed for monsters. (Apparently, she thought they could be friends).

Her parents tried to be supportive but had a hard time being enthusiastic about their daughter wanting to always jump headfirst into danger,… her brother and grandmother on the other hand.

Jacob Wilder has always been two things; a troublemaker, and someone who wanted to make their little sister as happy as possible.

This has caused many heart attack-inducing things for Alexander and Jenna Wilder. Including, but not limited to; Jacob smashing a picture frame because the photo was scaring Piper, building a flying fox in the backyard, and what is now strictly referred to as ‘Hippogriff Incident’.

Primrose wasn’t much better. She had always been an adventurous and outgoing type. It wasn’t a surprise that her grandchildren would follow suit.

All of this has resulted in Piper growing up into someone who basically fears next to nothing.

That’s why she remained surprisingly calm when wandering around the Forbidden Forest and saw an Acromantula, of all things.

She was cautious at first. Making sure to stay a reasonable distance away. When she felt it was safe, she pulled out her notebook and started sketching away on it.

Was this definitely a bad idea? Yes.

Had Piper pulled this type of stunt enough times to feel pretty confident doing it? Also Yes.

Piper continued watching the giant spider wander around the forest. She quickly noticed that they seemed to be limping. She tried to take a closer look, but she lent a bit too far and ended up rustling the tree she was sitting in. The Acromantula’s eyes snapped towards the tree. The two of them just looked straight at each other.

Piper decided it was an excellent time to head back to school. 

That night Piper, while trying to ignore Merula’s incessant whining, kept thinking about what happened.

“So where were you today, Wilder?”

She was surprised that Hagrid didn’t tell her that there was an Acromantula on the reserve. He usually would tell all about new arrivals when she had tea with him.

“You didn’t get a lead on a cursed vault, did you?”

While thinking about this Piper had a horrible thought. What if the Acromantula snuck on the reserve?

Before Piper could start thinking about the implications, a voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

“Go away, Snyde. Piper isn’t going to answer any of your stupid questions.” Rowan said as she walked into the room.

Piper could help but smile at how straight forward Rowan was being.

“Whatever! She was probably doing something stupid anyway!” Merula huffed as she went to go get ready for bed.

“I love when you do that,” Piper said as Rowan face-planted onto her bed.

“She’s an arse, and I’m tired,” Rowan mumbled. “It’s not a good combination.”

Piper gave her friend a sympathetic giggle. Rowan often preferred not to argue with Merula, but her tried mind often got the better of her.

After this, Rowan fell asleep fairly quickly. Piper decided to do the same. As she drifted off to sleep, she reminded herself to go see Hagrid the next day.

Unfortunately, for Piper, she wasn’t going to get the information she wanted from Hagrid.

“Hagrid, can I ask you something?”

“Wha’ ‘bout?”

“Well, it’s about Acromantulas.”

Piper was caught off guard by the loud smashing of the teacup Hagrid was holding.

“Now why would yeh be asking ‘bout summat like tha’?”

“Well’s it’s just that-”

Yeh bes’ not be messing around with stuff like tha’ Piper. It’ll get yeh in trouble.”

“But Hagrid-”

“Piper. Please.”

This caused Piper to go silent. She had never seen Hagrid like this before. He looked so scared. She didn’t know what to do.

“I’m sorry, Hagrid. I’ll drop it.”

Hagrid thanked her, and the two of them went back to having tea.

Piper couldn't get the thoughts of the Acromantula out of her head. She kept thinking about how Hagrid reacted. He had always acted so excited when it came to every other creature she brought up, but she guessed that everyone had their limits, even Hagrid.

Most people would suggest that Piper should go to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures about this, but she knew better than that. Hagrid and Professor Kettleburn were already on thin ice with them. Most of the people who worked there would jump at the chance to close the whole place down, and Piper couldn’t bring herself to risk all the other creatures becoming homeless.

Or worse, sentenced to death.

Piper suddenly had a thought. What if she studied the Acromantula. Find out why it’s in the sanctuary in the first place. She had plenty of experience. She became friends with a Welsh Green. Why couldn’t the Acromantula be the same?

And besides wasn’t as if Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures (stupid name) was very capable, to begin with. Piper suddenly remembered back to the incident with Cecil Lee and shuddered.

Piper made a plan in her head. Study the Acromantula for a while, see if she can find out what it's doing there and if it’s safe to let it stay in the sanctuary.

The next time she had some time on her hands, Piper headed to the same spot where she saw the beasty. She was surprised to see that the Acromantula had sort of created its own little nest in a great hollow log.

She grasped the strap of her food bag with one hand and her wand with the other. She felt her palms get a little sweaty. She would never admit it out loud, but she was feeling a bit nervous about doing this.

She slowly approached and reached into the bag to grab some of the creature snacks. She tossed it towards one of the open cracks in the log and rushed to go hide behind a tree. She watched as something pink and slimy shot out and grabbed the snack.

_ Was… was that a tongue? _

Piper stood in her hiding place for a second. Wide-eyed and having trouble processing what just happened. After a while, she snapped out of her confusion and pulled out her notebook. She scribed down a couple of notes and moved to throw another piece of food.

This process went on for a couple of weeks, with Piper going to visit the Acromantula when she had some spare time at the sanctuary. After a while, Piper started to feel a bit more relaxed. The Acromantula hadn’t tried to attack once and had even begun popping their head out when Piper offered them food.

After a while, Piper’s curiosity got the better of her. She had been sitting near the log, next to the Acromantula (who she had jokingly nicknamed Snuggles), and was doing a sketch of them while they were relaxing a couple of meters away.

“What exactly do you do while I’m gone?” Piper joked. She wasn't actually expecting a response.

The creature narrowed its many eyes at her. Piper simply smiled back at them.

“What are you up to, human?”

Piper blinked in surprise. She knew that Acromantulas could speak to humans due to all the reading she had been doing on them recently, but this was the first time this Acromantula had talked to her.

“Whadda you mean?” Piper chuckled nervously.

“You know exactly what I mean.” Piper was surprised by how… human they sounded. The huge spider talking to her was speaking just a woman in her 20s.

Piper rubbed the back of her head and took a deep breath.

“I want to make sure you're not going to hurt anyone,” Piper said bluntly.

“Why would you care what happened in this forest?”

“Well I’m not sure if you know this, but the part of the Forbidden Forest we’re in is also part of a sanctuary for creatures.”

“A sanctuary?” she asked. “Explain.”

“Yeah well, you know it’s a safe place for magical creatures to hang out and recover without the fear of being hunted by things that want to hurt them.”

“I was curious as to why it was so quiet here.”

“Is that why you came here? For the quiet?”

“That’s none of your concern, human!”

“It is too if you're gonna hurt someone, spider!”

Neither of them moved for a while. They just sat there staring at each other.

“I apologise.” the spider said.

“Wait, what?”

“You are allowing me to say here without telling any of your human companions.”

“How do you know I haven't told anyone?” Piper asked.

“You mumble to yourself a lot.”

Piper felt her face go warm as she suddenly remembers her habit of saying what she’s thinking while taking notes. Piper let out a laugh.

“Yeah, sorry if I ever bother you with that.”

“I’ve somewhat gotten used to it.”

The two continued walking to one another. Asking the other about themselves and so on.

“Do you have a name?”

“I was given the name Arachne by a human a few years back. What have you been calling me?”

“Well, I’ve actually been referring to you as Snuggles in my notebook.”

“Snuggles?”

“You know, like hugging?”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“You mean you’ve never been hugged before?!” Piper exclaimed. “That’s awful!”

“My kind isn’t really the affection type.” Arachne could obviously tell that hugging was something significant to Piper.

“Can I give you a hug?” Piper asked. She knew how insane she sounded, but really wanted to find out what it would be like to hug some as big and fluffy looking as Arachne.

The spider hesitated for a second, but slowly nodded it’s head. Piper went in for a quick hug but didn’t want to linger for too long, in case Arachne didn’t like it.

She stayed quiet for a second, before going back to asking Piper questions.

Piper eventually left Arachne to their own devices and met back with Barnaby, who was waiting near the entrance of the sanctuary. Piper listened to her friend gush about the baby Bowtruckles he had been helping take care of.

She had to admit that her head was spinning after her conversation with Arachne.

_ I hugged an Acromantula today. Merlin, I wish Jacob could see me now. _

A while later Piper got a little distracted. A Celestial Ball had been announced, and the young teen found herself getting busy with helping out her friends, and trying to build up the nerve to ask Penny if she wanted to go with her.

She still found time to go to the sanctuary, just not as much.

“How is your party planning going?”

“I’ve been trying to help out around the place and get ready.”

“What do you plan on doing at this party?”

“Probably dance a whole bunch with this girl who’s going with me. It’s gonna be a lot of fun.”

“Do you know how to dance?” Piper had explained what dancing was to Arachne after the Ball was first noticed.

“Not really to be honest. I used to dance around the living room with my mum when I was a kid, but that’s really the same.”

“When how do you plan on impressing your friend then?”

“I’ll just wing it.”

“What? Like this?”

Arachne processed to climb down to the ground and started waving her legs around to imitate dancing. It caused Piper to burst out laughing uncontrollably. After talking with Arachne a bit more, Piper was starting to feel a bit more comfortable with doing the whole dancing thing in front of the rest of her year.

To think that out of all the living creatures, she knew it was the giant spider that gave them the confidence to go to a school dance. Life as a witch really was something else.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is just a series of one-shots featuring my Hogwarts Mysteries OC. Feel free to suggest story prompts if you so desire.


End file.
